APLane Kiffin answers questions at a news conference in Knoxville.Bad hire? What in the world are you talking about? Lane Kiffin was the perfect hire. The University of Southern California athletic department couldn't have done it better when it came to filling the job of head football coach.

Count me among the believers that Kiffin to USC is a wonderful thing...

For the rest of the Pacific-10 Conference, that is.

Consider that the Trojans looked to Mike Riley, Jack Del Rio, Jeff Fisher and Steve Sarkisian, and none of them were interested. What I'm saying is, those guys are all better coaches than Kiffin and, also, smart enough to sniff out approaching NCAA sanctions. There are nine other conference members who should get busy sending thank you notes to that list because without them turning USC away, Kiffin doesn't get this job.

Oregon's chances of repeating in the Rose Bowl just got better. Oregon State just got a boost. So did everyone else who has struggled to get past the Trojans. In fact, a decade of national talk about the conference being best described as "USC and everyone else" just ended with everyone else catching up with a single hire. And if you see Rick Neuheisel at UCLA today, expect him to be giggling.

Remember, Kiffin is a 34-year old guy with a 12-21 record as a head coach. Same dolt who incorrectly accused Florida's Urban Meyer of cheating. Same guy who committed a brash string of NCAA secondary infractions and other absurd actions in 14 months of mediocre football at Tennessee.

His misdeeds ranged from improper use of social networking sites to the controversial use of female hostesses to lure recruits to staging a simulated news conference. Everytime he opened his mouth off the field, you cringed. His shining moment on the field? A two-point loss to Alabama.

Basically, he's a bozo with a headset.

Kiffin is linked to good times at USC because at one time he served as outgoing coach Pete Carroll's wide receivers coach, recruiting coordinator, and later offensive coordinator.

Its coincidentally true that as many as six coaches turned down USC before it eventually hired Carroll nine years ago. But take solace Ducks and Beavers fans, Kiffin is no Carroll.

Carroll brought seven conference championships, two national championships and three Heisman trophies to USC. He won 97 games in nine seasons at USC.

Nine seasons?

That's six jobs for Lane Kiffin.

There's been a shift in the power of the conference. It didn't happen when Carroll left for the Seahawks, it happened when Kiffin was named USC's new coach. I know that the Trojans get lots of talent and have amazing facilities, but something tells me Kiffin will figure out a way to muck that up. Those who hired him think USC will be the difference, and he'll turn his career path around, but anyone who studies the human condition will tell you that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

The rest of the Pac-10 Conference should be quietly pumping their fists and back slapping today. Oregon and Oregon State fans? There are few merry developments that you can share, and Kiffin to USC is one of them because it's left the Ducks and Beavers among those who have a chance to own the next decade in the conference.

When Kiffin accepted the USC job I called a beat reporter colleague who covered the coach when he was in Oakland.

The reporter said, "Might be the dumbest person ever put in charge of anything."

You want more Kiffin endorsements?

APA fan rips a University of Tennessee flag in response to football coach Lane Kiffin's decision to bolt for USC after one season. In a little more than a year in Knoxville, Kiffin showed an ability to quickly upset people.Ask the Pahokee (Fla.) Chamber of Commerce, which sent a letter to Tennessee asking for a public apology after Kiffin joked and made disparaging remarks about the possibility that someone at the high school might alter a recruit's letter of intent.

Ask Walter Wilson, the South Carolina high school coach of all-state wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who said, "(Kiffin) told the player if you go to South Carolina you will end up pumping gas for the rest of your life like all the other players who went to South Carolina."

Ask one-time Kiffin employer and Raiders owner Al Davis, who said: "He's a flat out liar who is guilty of bringing disgrace to our organization."

Ask any of the state legislators in Tennessee who end almost every football season by passing a glowing resolution to honor the Volunteers football coach. You know, for all the hard work and success. Because after Kiffin's 7-6 season they voted unanimously, "No!"